Picking the Brain of a Product Evangelist

After speaking to a group of 500 people in Santiago, Chile, catching a red eye back to Detroit and running a few errands, all in a 24-hour time span, Terry W. grabs some dinner. Take- out, that is.

“It’s very busy,” he says of his daily life. “I’m either on the road or I’m creating content.”

Terry W., a Worldwide Creative Suite Design evangelist for Adobe, travels the world speaking to large audiences about Adobe’s products. But traveling for speaking engagements doesn’t mean his job is like a constant vacation. “I typically leave on Saturday or Sunday, I get to the city on Monday, the event is that Tuesday, and I’m in the car Tuesday afternoon going on to the next city to do it all over again,” he says. “The sightseeing is on the way to the airport.”

While sightseeing might not fit on his dizzying agenda, Terry does get to do what he loves every day: generating enthusiasm in customers about the products he is passionate about. “What I love most about my job is not only getting in front of the customer, but getting the customer excited about the things I’m excited about,” he says. “I want them to get out of it the quality and the amount of potential they could have if they use our Creative Suite tools.”

A Passion for Products

Terry started his career at Adobe almost 16 years ago as a market specialist, but a passion for Adobe products and engaging with customers led him to product evangelism, despite offers from other companies throughout the years. “Sure, other opportunities have come along, but I wouldn’t have been as passionate about representing those products or using those products as I am about Adobe products.”

Terry realizes the importance of using the products he speaks about to establish credibility with the audiences he engages with. “I want to have credibility in that I either use those products myself or I’m in that profession myself,” he says. “That I’m a photographer just like you are. I see the same struggles you see.”

Playing Favorites

Selecting a favorite product, however, is “like asking if you have a favorite child,” Terry says, struggling to come up with an answer. “My favorite products are a toss-up between Photoshop and Lightroom, because those are the products I use every day.” He thinks for a moment then concludes, “I couldn’t live without either one.”

Adobe’s talented employees set high standards for a company that demands the best of the best, he says. “We only want the best products and the best solutions. People want magical products from Adobe. They want products that they will make their livelihood from.“

The Making of a Dream Career

Adobe, he says, has helped him grow personally by “giving me the resources I need to get my job done and getting out of my way, allowing me to explore my own career and do what I think is right for the customer and the products. No one is telling me how to be an evangelist. I think that’s very unique to Adobe.”